Pain, Love, and Betrayal
by dragonheart3
Summary: Max and the flock are flying back from New York. On their way back to Dr. Martinez's house, Max gets shot! She begins to slow down, and seems so much more tired. What's going on? She does something and sends the whole flock in a state of panic! FAX! R
1. Chapter 1

This idea has been forming in my head for a while, and I like it a lot. Hopefully, I'll finish it!! Don't forget to R&R!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or there would be for FAX.

**Max POV**

My flock and I were flying through the sky. We were heading towards mom's house (Dr. Martinez, for those of you who don't know), coming from New York.

I looked around to check on my flock. Nudge and Angel were diving through the clouds laughing and giggling when they came out wet. Iggy and Gazzy were tucking in their wings to fall for a while, then opening them out after a while. Then they would fly back up. Fang was carrying Total, not doing much of anything. He felt me watching him, and he turned to look at me and gave me a small smile. My heart fluttered and I gave him a smile back. _Sigh. _

Fang. I was going to have to give some thought on him. But I was too happy to think. This was a rare happy moment with my flock. Normally we were always running (well flying) away from Erasers, or now, Fly Boys. Most of the Erasers have expired. Poor Ari expired with them.

I felt my eyes water, and Fang looked at me. "Its nothing." I saw quickly, and wipe my tears away. _Sigh. _This was such a happy, easy time…

"Max!" Gazzy shouted, with an urgent note in his voice. I spun around, to look for him. When I found him, he pointed to a dark cloud from behind us. I squinted. Fly-boys. Damn.

"Ok guys! Get ready to fight! Fly-boys coming! Iggy! 12 o'clock!" I had to tell Iggy where they were so he'd be ready. Normally, he can hear them, but there was a slight wind today…

I tensed my muscles, getting ready to fight. I could already feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins. _Ok. These are just flyboys. There are roughly 20 of them. We can do this. _I thought to myself. Nothing bad could happen right?

Here them come. I charged them, taking quite of few of them out. I started tackling as much as I could, I didn't want any of my flock to be taken away for hurt. Not on my watch.

I was taking on three of them. Done. I moved on to the next. With a quick glance I saw Fang taking on five of them. Iggy and Gazzy were holding up fine. Nudge was good. Angel was making them fall on their own. I was so proud of them. My little troopers.

Suddenly, I felt a crushing pain on the side of my face. The fly-boy landed a punch on my face! I went to attack him, literally ripping his wings off. One of his hands grabbed my ankle, and was dragging me down as he was falling. I twisted around to kick him. My flock was still holding up fine…

"MAX!" I hear someone shout. Suddenly I have a searing pain in my shoulder. Ugh, it got my wing too. Everything seemed to be going into slow motion. I looked up, and I saw a fly-boy holding up his right arm, which was actually a gun rather than a hand. Ugh! That jerk actually got me! Asshole. Fang punched him and took the gun and threw it far off. Great.

Suddenly, everything was back to normal. As in not slow motion anymore. I was falling. Fast. I frantically tried to start flapping my wings again, but the wing that got hit, curled in, so I was falling with one wing out. I was falling horizontally. Huh. Besides the searing pain in my shoulder and wing, I might actually try this sometimes.

I looked up, and I saw Fang flying down as fast as he could to come catch me. "Fang!" I screamed! I raised my good hand to come reach him. I saw a small trail of my blood from my arm falling too.

I was falling. Down to earth. I must look like a falling angel. HOLY SHIZ I was close to the ground. "FANG!" I screamed afraid. Was this the end? Oh god, please no, there's still so much I need to do…

Fang got to me and grabbed my waist. _Phew. _We were safe. Then I heard us crash before I felt it. We landed in a bunch of trees. Fang was only seconds to being too late. Fang picked me up and carried me to the ground, then he put me down.

Ugh. Now that that terror was over, I could actually focus on my pain. Damn! My shoulder is KILLING me. The rest of the flock joined us. I tried to get up, only to feel dizzy and I layed back down. I looked next to me. The ground was turning wet with my blood.

"Max? Are you gonna be okay?" Nudge asked uncertainly. Ugh. My head was spinning. I tried to look at her, but I was seeing double vision.

"Nudge? Ugh, yeah I'm ok." I put my hand over my face in an attempt to stop the dizziness.

"Are you sure, Max? That's a lot of blood…" Gazzy said sacredly.

"I'll be fine." I assured them, and I tried to get up to show them, but I winced. Fang helped me up. What a guy.

"Ok guys. Max's obviously in no condition for traveling, so lets camp out here tonight." Fang said, as he was ripping an extra shirt to stop my bleeding.

I looked at him and gave him a look that said, _Thanks. _

And with that, I fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey Guys it's me, Dragonheart3. I'm still new around here, and I'm blindly finding my way around here…**

**Anyways, I see that my first chapter was a little on/off with the past/present tense, and some spelling errors…well I'm good at spelling but since I couldn't see to get the words down fast enough, I messed up in some places. As for the past tense, well, I'm not that great at English. Probably like a B or something. Stick with me!! Well, onto the story!!! **

**Fang's POV**

It was dark out, and since Max fell asleep so quickly, I'm on watch. It's so quiet out here. A good time to think. My computer is in my bag, but I'm not gonna check my blog right now. I'm just gonna relax as best as I can for now.

I looked around towards the flock. We had a little fire going, keeping everybody warm. Iggy and Gazzy were fine. Check, check. Angel, Nudge, check and check again. Total. Check. Max…

Max was here, but she seemed to be very tense, unable to relax. Her face was tense as she slept, like she was having a bad nightmare or something. Her breathing was fast, faster than usual. Slightly jagged, like she couldn't get enough air in her lungs. I sucked in a breath.

Slowly, I went over to where Max was sleeping. Her bandages were was red, the blood already went through it. Her wings were also red, splashed with her own blood. I grit my teeth. The fly-boys were carrying a gun!? I should have paid better attention to everybody, especially Max. I shouldn't have let her get hurt. I checked her forehead, only to pull my hand away quickly. She was burning up! Ok, not good.

I rummaged through my bag, to get a small cloth. I poured some of my water on it, and put the wet washcloth on her forehead. She seemed to relax a little, but not much.

Her breathing was still slightly jagged, but they were getting better now. She was probably in a lot of pain. Ugh! Max, was in pain, _my_ Max…

Whoa. I did not just think that. Ok, yes I did. I realized quite a while ago, that I may have more than sisterly **(sisterly or brotherly? Well you get the point)** feelings for Max. She got hurt because I wasn't to help her. But that's not going to happen EVER again. And then she almost fell to her death…

I need to increase my speed, my strength, EVERYTHING. I need to get better in order to protect my flock. I will do anything.

And then, the sun began to rise.

**Max POV**

Ugh. I was sore, and stiff all over. I struggled to get up, and winced, but I pushed myself up anyways. I'm not that pathetic. A white washcloth fell from my face. What the heck? Oh well. I still felt slightly dizzy, but nobody needed to know that right? I'm not going to drag my flock down. I'm the leader right? I need to set an example.

I looked over. Everybody was still sleeping, except for Fang. I looked over at him. He felt my gaze and looked towards me.

"Were you up all night?" I asked.

He shrugged. Geez. Just because I'm injured, doesn't mean I can't sit up and watch. "You could have woken me up." I accused him.

He shrugged, then said, "I'm fine. Stop worrying." I scanned his face for any signs of sleepiness, but as usual, I couldn't find any. This was coming from a guy who almost NEVER showed his emotions.

"So, where to?" He asked. My brain reeled into action. "We're not that far from mom's house, so we can crash there. It's got to be an half hour trip, right? We can make it." I said.

"I'll wake everybody up." He said, then he started to gently nudge everybody awake. Everybody started to wake up, rubbing their eyes, and yawning and stretching.

I waited for it. 3. 2. 1.

"Max? I'm hungry." Said (GUESS WHO IT IS).

"Yes Nudge? We're going to Dr. Martinez's house. It's only a half hour away, can you make it?" HA. I betcha knew that was Nudge asking that question.

"Yeah."

Everybody was getting up, stretching their wings. "Okay, are we ready to go?" I asked.

"But Max, how are YOU going to get there?" Angel asked. Crap. Um…let's see. I have a couple options here:

1) I could walk there. Taking forever. Either meeting my flock there, or dragging them down with me.

2) I could try to fly.

3) Fang could carry me.

I quickly eliminated options 1 and 3, so I tried to stretch my wings out. Before I could even open them, Fang was at my side, holding onto my shoulder. "I'll carry you. It's faster than walking, plus we don't want to add anymore damage to your wings than they already are. It's not that far." Well if he put it _that_ way…

Iggy snickered, and Total whistled. (He can WHISTLE. Who knew? Well I guess if he could talk, he can do pretty much everything else.)

"Um, ok then. Let's go." I said, feeling uncertain as Fang swooped behind me and picked me up, bridal style. We launched up into the air.

_Having fun, Maximum? _Great. The Voice was back. _No. _I thought back angrily. _This is necessary. I don't WANT to, it's just necessary. _

_Whatever you say, Maximum. Don't forget there's a world to save. _

_Hello?!? I'm freaking wounded here!! How about I heal up first? _

_Well, don't take your time. People are dying. _

I mentally rolled my eyes. Whatever. Not to the people dying, but to the Voice. I _knew_ I had a world to save, and I'm going to take FULL responsibility of that, once I healed up.

"Geez, you're hot." I quickly glanced up at Fang, and froze. It takes just three words to bring me out of my conversation with the Voice. "What?" I say.

Fang took one look at my expression then said, "I mean you're burning up."

Oh. _Phew. _On one hand, I was totally relieved that that was the case. But somewhere deep inside of me, I was feeling kind of empty, like I wished he actually MEANT it like that…

Ok, Max. Get a hold of yourself. You do not think of Fang that way. You—

_--Are totally crazy about him. _Finished the Voice.

_SHUT UP VOICE! BUTT OUT OF MY PERSONAL LIFE!! _

The Voice didn't answer. Way to get a girl angry like THAT. I mentally snapped my fingers.

Fang looked down at me to check on how I was holding up, which was very good, thank you very much. "We're close. Expect to be there in about five minutes." Fang announced.

I closed my eyes. I was starting to feel really dizzy again. My head was spinning, and I couldn't seem to control it. I was dead tired.

Then by the air current changing direction, I knew we were heading down to the ground. Then, just as quickly we landed. Fang put me on my feet. We were here! At mom's house. I could already see mom and Ella rushing out to greet me. I was smiling at them, when I suddenly felt scorching pain in my injured arm and wing. So much pain and dizziness, I quickly blacked out, with the ground rushing towards me quickly. In the few moments before I blacked out, I heard a distant screaming…

**Hey guys! I decided to leave it at a cliffy there! Please R&R!! For some reason I feel as if I'm not giving enough!! Can I make the chapters more interesting in any way?? Stick around for more!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter! Thank You EVERYBODY for reviewing, it makes my day! I know this chapter isn't what you were expecting but I had to get this out there. I promise to do Fang's POV next time!**

**Disclaimer!! (I almost forgot) I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. But the plotline. TY**

**Meanwhile, somewhere in an Itex headquarters…**

"Excellent plan, Reilly!" A female scientist said.

"Thank you, I just finally wanted to get the stupid bird girl for sometime now. Ever since we lost Subject Eleven _again_ I've been wanting revenging ever since." Reilly said proudly.

"Your motivation is leading us to success!"

"I know, thank you."

Just then another scientist walked into the room. "Reilly, the whole headquarters wants you to do a presentation on your plan. The meeting is at four o'clock sharp." The scientist left.

"Good for you, Reilly."

_Later at four o'clock…_

"Lately all of our scientist have been focusing most on capturing the avian experiments. But recently I got the idea of instead of trying to chase them down, we could just take them from the inside out.

"How you ask? We take the leader down first. A flock is nothing without its leader. Without a leader the flock will go into chaos. So I recently developed a poison set especially for the avians' blood type." Reilly pulled out a test tube filled with a purple substance.

"This type of poison will react with the nuclei in the flock's DNA. It's set to specifically slow down the immune system. It will cause the subject to undergo extreme pain and dizziness. The subject's breathing will be harder, and weaker, and at one point it will temporarily shut down the whole system. It shouldn't last long though. After this point we will have control of the subject. The poison contains subunits of metal, so when I hit this button at the right moment, the victim will be in our control.

"We will have taken control of the flock from the inside out. The leader will then destroy or capture the rest of the flock. They are wanted dead or alive anyways.

"So I specifically designed a robot-machine, or a fly-boy, with a gun for a hand. I put the poison in the bullets, so it didn't matter whether the fly-boy hit the victim dead-on, or just a graze."

The whole crowd clapped. Reilly smiled to himself. He'd done it. He'd taken down the leader of the flock. Now it's only a matter of time before the flock practically comes crawling into his trap.

"Subject Maximum has begun."

**Sorry, if this chapter seemed a little boring, but I wanted to "show" you guys why Max was feeling so dizzy and tired, and…weak. Next chapter will be starting off from Fang's POV!! Don't forget to Review!! (Ugh, I sound like a broken record…) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Voila'. I present to you, chapter four!! Yes, it's been a while. I've been busy. I've also been busy updating my other fanfic. It's called "Total, you sly dog". You should go check it out. I know your probably thinking, "Why is she talking about her other fanfic?! We don't care about Total! We want chapter 4!" Well, I'll shut up, so here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, dammit. **

**Fang's POV**

Shit. Max going down, Max going down. My body already reacted and I was reaching out for her. _Catch her dammit!! _I mentally thought to myself. Everything in the world around me just tuned out. I think there might have been screaming in the background, but I'm not sure. I barely caught her before she touched the ground. Damn, she's burning up. Her arm was bleeding again!! She needs real medical care, I just not good enough. Dr. Martinez _better_ be able to do something about it or I'll…

I picked her up and ran towards the house. Ella was in hysterics. The rest of the flock followed looking scared. "Quick! Take her upstairs in a bed!" Shouted Dr. M. I flew up the stairs, (not literally) with Max in my arms. I brought her to a room and laid her gently on the bed. Crap. Max can't be dying. She just can't. She was only grazed with a bullet. She survived this before right? Did the bullet go through her heart? No, it couldn't have…

Dr. Martinez and the rest filed into the room. Dr. Martinez went straight to Max and placed her hand on Max's head. "Burning up." She murmured. She pulled out a stethoscope from her back pocket. She put it on and placed it over Max's heart. She turned to me quickly. "Fang, how fast it your heartbeat normally?" I listened to Max's heart. My stomach dropped. That was fast, even for us.

"Slower, and more even. Our heartbeats are fast, but not that fast." I said. A cold chill was creeping up into my stomach.

"Somebody, get me a cold washcloth, _now." _She barked. Ella flew out of the room and came back in with a cold washcloth. Dr. Martinez placed it on Max's forehead. Max was breathing heavily, and she was sweating.

Max's blood was spilling over the pillows. "Bandages. I need bandages. Ella, get my medical kit!" And Ella came back with the medical kit too.

"Guys, I'm gonna need more space. Could you guys either step out of the room or get against the wall? Thanks." Everybody all stepped to the wall, but I remained next to Max. I'm sure Dr. M didn't mean to sound harsh, but this was an emergency, there was no time to turn around and say, "Excuse me guys, I'm a little busy right now, and it's a little stuffy in here. Could you guys go down stairs and I'll bake you some cookies in a minute."

I looked over at Max. _You better get well soon Max. We all need you._

**Max's POV**

Fire. Pain. Blood. Hell. Was I in hell? What did I do to deserve this? I felt like I was on fire, everywhere. Like somebody just dumped a whole crapload of oil on me and threw a match on. **(Kind of like Twilight, huh? I didn't mean for it to sound like, though. She's not turning into a vampire.)**

I was falling somewhere. I felt like I was falling into a bottomless pit of fire. I could feel myself sweating. My wings couldn't move, and I wasn't even sure if they were there. Was I back in Itex? Oh God no, please no…

I was falling and falling and falling. I was afraid of some unknown organism and I didn't have the faintest idea what it was. I saw a giant dark shadow hovering over me. By falling stopped, so I was right next to it. I looked into its eyes. They were a bloodshot red, a big contrast to its black body. I could barely even make the shape.

It glared back at me. Was this the monster of death? Or was it supposedly an angel of death? Well it didn't look very welcoming, either way. _Please take me quickly._ I thought. The black monster raised its claws around me, and clamped down on me. Then I was spiraling down it a black bottomless pit now. The pain was ebbing away, and I felt myself slowly shut down…and the darkness swallowed me whole.

_The storm will pass. _A voice echoed around in the darkness. And even though I was unconscious, my mind went dark.

**Angel's POV**

I gasped. I could read Max's mind for a while now, and it was nothing but pain and fire. I saw the whole monster thing, and it terrified me. I could see myself in Max's point of view, and she was even more afraid than I was. I looked into the monster eyes.

I saw Max be swallowed into a black pit. I felt her slowing shutting down, and I even thought I heard something say, "The storm will pass". And then suddenly, Max's mind went dark. Just blank.

I freaked out. "Fang!" I screamed. He whirled around to look at me. "Max!" I sobbed. "I can't read her mind anymore!" Fang's face turned white. He turned back to her and grabbed her hand. I could barely see anything through my tears, but I heard the others break down sobbing too. I heard anguish in Fang's head.

I heard Dr. Martinez yell. "AUGH! Her heart stopped beating! It's still not too late, not too late, never too late…." She murmured. (**AN: Three Day's Grace song: Never too late. Lol I was thinking of this.) **

Past all the sobbing, we didn't need a stethoscope to hear it. Nothing. We didn't hear anything coming from Max. That familiar hearbeat…gone. She can't be gone though. We still need her. _I_ still need her. I've known her all my life, and that still isn't long enough.

**Fang's POV**

No, no, no…Max isn't dead yet. She isn't. She can't. How can she save the world if she isn't even breathing? Are we all going to die because Max died? Max's life was important to the world, and Itex decides to kill her. Itex, you better watch out because I'm going to get you…

Oddly enough, Max was still burning up. I looked over to Dr. Martinez. She didn't seem to accept that Max's heart and breathing stopped. She was still working. Good. I will be too.

**Max's POV**

In this black pit I was, I regained consciousness. Of the black pit, I mean. I looked around me, and I saw a light. At the end of the tunnel, sort of thing. I looked at it, uncertainly. I hesistated. The pain was gone. Should I go to the light? There was nothing in here, but darkness. I saw a figure by the light. It was a woman, and she was faintly transparent.

"Um, are you an angel?" I asked from across the darkness. She nodded, then pointed to the light. "Am I dead? Am I supposed to go there?" I asked again. She nodded again.

My stomach knotted up. The flock. Where were they? I was supposed to be the leader, the one who takes care _of_ the injured, not _be_ injured. Then a voice inside my head **(AN: No, it's not the Voice. It's her conscience.) **said, "You've already gone this far. Going back just means someday you're going to have to suffer through this again, and _then _die. You're already here, the pain is gone, just go. Death never felt this good."

Another voice in my head argued back. "No, Max. The flock still needs you. Without you, they are in a state of utter confusion. Besides, who's gong to save the world? _You_ were designed specifically for the world. _You_ are meant to save it. Without _you_, everybody will die, including the flock."

"Forget the flock. They've always dragged you down. When was the last time you thought of yourself? Huh? Never? This is an opportunity of the end of your life. You've gone this far. Is it so hard just to walk a few steps towards the light?"

"Max, no. Think of the flock. Think of how they need you, and then you die. Has the great Maximum Ride been defeated?"

Ugh, so many voices in my head. I wasn't sure what to do. They both had good points. Who's going to save then world when I was gone? When WAS the last time I've thought about myself? I looked over to the angel. Her face was strong and reassuring. She came over to me and smiled. Then she hugged me and whispered in my ear, "It's your decision." I looked up, tears were forming in my eyes. "Ok." I whispered back. I knew what I had to do. I was going back. Away from the light. The angel, still hugging me, kissed me on the cheek. Then with her hands over my shoulder, she ripped my wings from my back. I screamed a cry of pain, then I realized she didn't rip them _off._ I couldn't feel my wings earlier, but hear they are. I shook them. Yup, those were my wings alright.

The angel opened up her wings too. They were white. Just like Angel's. My stomach knotted. _I'm going back. _I thought. The light tunnel thing, closed up and vanished. The angel looked at me and smiled reassuringly. Then she pointed to the bottom of the darkness. "Fly down there, and you'll be back to the human world. Good luck." I smiled back at her, and fly down. I looked back up to her and saw her waving to me, then she vanished. Hm. Well, back to the human world for me.

I was flying down the dark pit , when it suddenly turned into blue sky. Huh? How'd I get up here? I looked towards my arm. Transparent. Oh. My spirit. I continued to fly down, until I saw my mom's house. I went through the roof like a ghost, then I saw everyone in one room, crowded around me. Then, I laid back down in my body.

**Whoa, different there, huh? Nice longish chapter though, right? I kept skipping around in POV's, because I wanted you to see in everybody's mind. Well most of them anyways. This was almost 2000 words!! New record!! A nice long chapter like this deserves reviews. So, please hit that button below this. Thank you!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ugh. This was totally painful. Somebody told me that if I wanted to get more reviews, I should just "wait". WELL I TRIED WAITING. But hey, 15 reviews aren't bad, but it only leaves me hungry for more. So people, REVIEW! Well, I'm gonna be a jerk and ask for FIVE more reviews before I start the next chapter!! So once again, REVIEW!!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Max Ride. (Have I ever before? Uh, NO!)**

**Max's POV**

I opened my eyes a crack. Ugh it was so bright. I took my first breath only to start coughing violently. Ugh I feel like crap. I looked at my hand. Blood. Was I coughing out blood? Guess so.

I tried to sit up, but then I felt an immense pain in my shoulder, and Fang pushed me back down. "You should lay down. You need some rest." His face looked totally relieved. I don't think I've ever seen his face like that, except for when I first got my headaches. "Ok." I croaked back.

I looked around the room. Nudge and Angel were crying. Total was in a pile in the corner of my bed, crying. Gazzy was trying to hold him self-together. Iggy's face was as white as a ghost, Ella stood next to him, holding his hand, and mom was breathed a sigh of relief and held her hand over her heart. Fang was watching me intensely, like I was going to keel over and die. Oh wait. I just did.

"How long was I out?" I asked weakly. Mom looked at me with pain. "Honey, you blacked out. Your temperature rose extremely, and then you were gone."

"Gone?" I asked confusedly. Fang looked at me. He had some expression on his face, but I didn't know what it was. Maybe agony. I don't know. "Your heart stopped beating and it didn't start up for a couple minutes."

"Like your whole system just shut down." Mom explained. I turned my head to the side. This happened before. Damn isolation tank. But I did that willingly. What the hell happened this time? My systems just _decided_ to shut down?

"Ok…um why is everybody against the wall?" I asked. "Oh. I had them lean against the wall while I was doing CPR on you." Mom said. "You guys can come now." Everybody practically jumped over to me. Nudge turned on.

"Oh my god Max you totally scared us! One moment we were landing in front of Ella's house, and then the next minute you blacked out! Then Fang was rushing into the house and took you up the stairs! Dr. M was working on you and bandaging up your shoulder and I was afraid you were gonna die and—" Somebody covered her mouth. But that was a reminder for me. My shoulder was bleeding. I turned to look at it and gasped when I saw the blood on the sheets.

"I was bleeding THAT much?!" I screeched. "How bad is the bullet wound?" I asked, panicked.

"I haven't checked on your injury yet. I'm going to wait until you feel a little better." Then mom turned around and said, "Ok guys! Let's give Max some time to recover. Let's all head downstairs for now and I'll make dinner." And with that, everybody left. Well almost everybody. Fang was still here.

"I was afraid I lost you there, for a minute." He said quietly, when everybody was gone.

I smirked at him. "Me? Gone? Do you know who your talking to?" I said to him teasingly. He grinned a little, making my whole world feel better. He looked serious for a moment and said, "How do you feel?"

I tried to look as best as I could and gave him the expression that said, _I'm been better._ "Fine." I responded. "My shoulder still feels a little achy, and I don't feel dizzy anymore, so I think I'm fine. But I'm still tired." I yawned for extra effect.

"What did you see when you were unconscious?" He questioned me. His voice was barely above a whisper. I gave him a pained look. He looked concerned, but then quickly hid it from his face. I looked towards the door, then I motioned for him to come closer. He leaned in close to my face. "How far did I go?" I whispered.

He looked at me solemnly. "You were gone." He murmured. Oh. My. God. I practically died. I felt a few tears spring to my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. Fang looked alarmed.

"Fang, I don't know where to start. When we landed, I was fine, but then I felt a scorching pain in my arm and wing. Then I remember blacking out. Suddenly I was falling into a pit of fire. I felt like I _was_ on fire. There was so much pain.

Then this big creature, pitch black with blood red eyes was staring at me. Its hands suddenly clamped down on me, and I was falling into utter darkness. But the pain was gone, so I felt better. Maybe that was when my heart stopped--?" I asked. He shrugged, looking at me gravely. I continued on.

"Then in the midst of the darkness, I saw a light. The end of the tunnel sort-of-thing. It felt so lonely in there. Next to the light, there was a figure. It was a girl. I think she was an angel. She was wearing a white robe and she had white wings, just like Angel's."

A few tears sprang to my eyes, but I ignored them.

"The whole time, something in my head was arguing with me. It wasn't my Voice though. One was telling me to go to the light. It told me to forget about the flock, and to think about myself. It told me death was waiting, and I should take it. Another voice was arguing about not going into the light. Like how I had my responsibilities and everything. Well, in the end, I decided not to go into the light. The angel hugged me, and told me to fly to the bottom of the pit. So I did, and eventually I came back to my body."

I didn't look at Fang. I put my hands over my face. "I was gone, and I had the option of death, but I didn't choose it. I was _so close._" When I took my hands away, Fang was looking to the ground, his face white as a ghost. It was silent for a moment, then he looked up at me and took my hand. He put his face closely to mine and growled softly. "Don't you _ever_ go into the light, Max. Keep your heart beating, and I'll be there fighting." **(AN: Ok! I admit it! I got this from one of the Twilight books. LoL) **

Then Fang leaned in closely, and kissed softly on the lips. "Get well soon." He said softly, and he walked out the room, closely the door softly. HiHi


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey. Guess what? I started another story! It's called ****Give me the leader**** it was supposed to be a oneshot, but maybe not…I want to thank everybody for the support on this story! And look people, my inbox is always practically bursting everytime I open it. It says people **_**subscribe**_** to this story, but they don't review it! Do you want me to demand for reviews again?! **

**BIG NEWS SO READ THIS!!**** ( I didn't want to make an AN)**

**Okay, I love this story with all my heart, and I so far I know how its gonna end. But then, this story won't last for much longer. Maybe, oh, another two chapters. SO……….i'm gonna try to stretch it out. So the action might now come for a while. So this chapter, and maybe the next, might seem a little boring to some of you. BEAR WITH ME! Ok, I think that's it…check out my other stories!**

**Fang's POV**

I closed the door behind me. I was a little anxious. Ok, a _whole lot_ anxious. I leaned against Max's door until my breathing returned to normal. This whole situation was giving me a sick feeling in my stomache.

Max almost _died. _ Maybe she did die. I don't know. But whatever she did, she came back somehow. I almost lost my teammate, my best friend, and the love of my life.

The horrible part of this situation is that she _could have died. _Now we always _almost_ die practically everyday, but we don't get the choice. Max had the choice to take death freely or to live another day. I was relieved she decided to come back, but if she didn't…I don't know how I would live. Way back, a couple lifetimes ago, when Max first got her headaches, she told me the pain was unbearable, and she wanted to die. **(AN: idk, if this really happened, but let's say it did) ** This time, was her pain just as unbearable? _Did_ she want to die? She's really strong to want to come back when she was in pain. It would have been so easy just to give up, and die easily.

I was suddenly brought back to the present. My face was sweating. I breathed out, trying to even out my breathing. What did Itex do now? Has their technology increased so much that a simple bullet wound can be excruciating?

I clenched my fists. If only I could take some of Max's pain, if not all of it. I pulled myself together, wiped the sweat away, and walked downstairs. Everyone was waiting downstairs, sitting against the couch, tense. When I walked into the room, they all looked up at me. "How's Max?" They all rushed at me.

I gave them a small smile. "She's fine. Let's give her some time to recover. I'm sure she'll be up in no time." Everybody seemed to relax. Suddenly, the oven dinged. Nudge squealed. "Chocolate chip cookies!" And everybody rushed over to Dr. Martinez. "I'll bring some up to Max!" Angel announced. Then she took a plate up to Max. I smiled internally to myself. This was a happy time. The only thing missing was a healthy Max. But one day, this picture will be complete. And hopefully everybody will be in it.

**Yes, this chapter was really short, but once again, I'm trying to stretch it out. Review! Fax and action will come later on. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys sorry for um, well, not paying good attention to you guys. OH! (whats the word? Whatever.) OH! Neglecting is the word. Sorry for that. Well, I've been thinking of a good filler chapter, and I came up with one!! *cheers* Ok. This is one of my dramatic stories, and I really like it, so can u people review?? Please?? (threatening mode) don't make me write down the names who **_**subscribe**_** to this story but don't review!! Yeah, that's right, I'll write/type ur names down so everybody will know you aren't reviewing!! HA!!! I'm so evil. But seriously. I will. I want at least, oh….seven reviews before the next chapter. Pretty please?? Ten seemed like too much, and 5 too little…so 7 reviews before the next chapter!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own max ride blahblahblah.. OH! I READ MAX 5****TH**** BOOK AND IT WAS AWSUM!! DID EVERYBODY READ THAT?!?!? SHE GETS SHOT IN THE BOOK!!!! JUST LIKE MY STORY HUH!!!!!!! I can like predict the future and stuff!!!! **

**Ok no I can't, otherwise I would have read the rest of the series by now. Well here we go!! And don't be afraid to check out my other stories. :)**

**But I still don't know where to put this in now. Like what time frame. 5****th**** book? 4****th****? 3****rd****? 2****nd****? Obviously not the 1****st****. **

**Max's POV**

It was the middle of the night. I woke up sweating and I was really hot. I kicked the covers off. But I knew I was just gonna bring them back up again. It felt like a routine. Feel really hot, kick the covers off, get cold, them bring them back up. Repeat. Ugh, my life is such a routine.

All this thinking was getting me thirsty. I clumsily felt my way around in the dark as I got off my bed. Ouch! I hit the lamp. Ahh. It felt so much better out of the bed. I was in a tank top and shorts, so I was _totally _cool. I opened my door to get some water, and something fell on my feet.

"Ergh." The lump grunted. "Fang?!" I said shocked. He suddenly sat up, but I could tell he was half asleep. He looked up at me tiredly. "Yeah, yeah, what?" He rubbed his eyes. He looked so cute right now. I chuckled to myself.

"Fang, what are you doing outside my door?" He was leaning against my door, so when I opened it, he collapsed, for those of you who don't get it. He glanced up at me quickly. "I was, uh…" I smirked. But deep down, I thought that he was really sweet.

He sighed. "I was sitting outside your door, guarding it, just in case you weren't feeling well. So, if you woke up to get out of bed for something, or needed some more medicine, I'd get it for you." He stood up and brushed himself off. "It worked." He was so much taller than me. A good four inches taller than me.

"Um, thank you." I said awkwardly. Good thing it was dark, so he wouldn't be able to see me blushing. "What do you need?" He asked. He looked at me, and saw I was wearing a tank top and shorts.

"Do you need medicine? Are you running a fever?" He asked, as he put his hand to my forehead. My face warmed up and he smirked. "Guess not."

"I was just going to get some water." I said. I jerked my thumb downstairs. He smiled, then said, "Let me help you with that." And we walked downstairs.

He got a cup and filled it with ice and water, then he handed it to me. "Here." I smiled at him. "I'm not _completely_ pathetic. I'm not helpless either." He smirked. "Is it so bad for a guy to help his best friend?" I grinned. When I finished drinking the water, I put it on the counter awkwardly. We walked back upstairs. He walked me to my bed. As I got in bed, he tapped my shoulder. I whirled around. "Max." He said seriously. "Yes?" I replied timidly.

He leaned into my face and closed his eyes. Oh god. What was he doing? I felt my face heat up immediately. Stupid teenage hormones. Then, gently and softly, he leaned in and kissed me.

Shocked, I didn't really know what to do. It ended fairly quickly, too quick for me to kiss him back. By the time I recovered from my shock, he ended it. I resented this a little.

"Max, you really scared me when you collapsed like that." I nodded dazedly. "Don't ever, _ever_ scare me like that again. I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

I grinned. "I'll try not to collapse, the next time I'm in pain." He chuckled, then said seriously, "I can't afford to lose you. You mean everything to me Max. I can't live without you." Then, without warning, he leaned in and kissed me fiercely. This time, I was slightly more prepared, so instead of just standing there like an idiot, I kissed him back. I swear I must've shocked him. So he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug kiss. Then he leaned foreward. We fell on my bed, and he was on top of me. "Oh." I said, and I blushed. He grinned, then got off me and off my bed. "Wait!" I said, slightly shocked. He turned to look at me, grinning. I looked down, already feeling lonely. "Would you like to stay in here…?" He smiled then closed the door and walked back to me. I felt better already. He began to lay down on the floor, and I said, "No! You can sleep on my bed too, I mean, well, if you want."

He looked up at me smiled at me. Then he walked to my bed and got in. The window was open, so there was a slight breeze. I shivered, and he put his arm around me. Ah. The comforter was just too hot, but without it, it was too cold. Fang was just right. This was a perfect moment. Within minutes, we were asleep.

**I hope none of your minds were in the gutter! Sorry, but that just isn't my style. If I do, -which I won't-, I would tell u at the top. Remember, SEVEN review!! Hit that little button below!!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for the seven reviews! I promise there will be more action in the next coming chapters. After this chapter, things will get interesting. I promise. Oh. And like I said before, I'm gonna list the names of people who **_**subscribe**_** but don't **_**review. **_**Here are the latest subscribers-who-aren't-reviewing:**

**Bofriend101**

**AlabasterThreads**

**Emokid13**

**WingedGirl4life**

**And some other people I'm too lazy to list. So would you guys be so kind as to give me some feedback? That would be great. :) Hope I haven't offended you, or scared you away. **

**Action chapters will arrive the next update!!!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Maximum Ride. :pouts:**

**Max's POV:**

I woke up the next morning very comfortable. I looked to my left and read the clock. 9:15 AM. I yawned and stretched. Wait. Where was Fang?! I whipped my head to the right. My heat sank. He was gone.

I swung my legs around to the right of the bed, but hit something. Fang suddenly reappeared and we fell off the bed and landed on the cool, hard floor. "Oof!" He said as I landed on top of him. I winced as my arm hit the floor. I guess the pain medicine was wearing off.

He must have felt me wince, because he gently hugged me and softly brushed my arm. I blushed and sighed. It felt so good. Him brushing my arm, I mean.

After a while, we got up and went downstairs. The whole flock was down there, either watching TV, talking, or helping Total perfect his flying. When we entered the room, we were greeted by tons of good mornings.

"Finally up, sleeping beauty?" Iggy said. Gazzy snickered. "You better not be talking about me." Fang said grinning. Iggy laughed. Ella came over to hug me. "Max! You're finally up! How's your arm and your wings?" She asked. Before I could say anything mom said, "Yes. I'm going to be checking that after breakfast. But for now, relax and eat." Iggy got up from off the couch and went to the kitchen. "What can I get for you guys?"

I smiled. Nudge ran to me. "Have the pancakes! Iggy's pancakes are delicious! He can make them from scratch! Oh, they taste so good with the maple syrup—" Angel covered her mouth. _Thanks sweetie. _I thought gratefully to her. She smiled and hugged me. "Oh Max! I'm so glad you're better!" I hugged her back. "I am too, sweetie." But I winced as I bent down to her hug. Stupid arm didn't completely heal yet.

"Pancakes, coming up." Iggy announced. Ella went to help him. He smiled at her. Oh. Hmm. Was something going on here I hadn't noticed before? I was going to pay a little more attention to them. Fang and I sat down at the table.

"So watcha' guys been doing all mornin'?" I said casually, from the table. I got a ton of grunts. I grinned. That was my flock. In flock language, that pretty much means "nothing much". Ella handed us our food, and Fang and I inhaled them. After a couple rounds of food, and Iggy complaining "Geez! You guys are like vacuum cleaners!" we were satisfied.

My mom motioned to me, and we headed upstairs to the bathroom. Fang stayed in the kitchen. "Sit on the edge of the tub. Let me examine your injuries. First she examined my shoulder. It was already half healed so that was just a big scar there. It still hurt to move around or touch though. "Do you need more pain medicine?" She asked. I winced, and nodded. I popped two pills in my mouth and swallowed. Then my mom said, "Ok, I need you to open your wings." I nodded, and then slowly opened up my wings.

As they began to unfurl, I winced at the pain in my right wing. I could fully open the other wing, but my right wing only opened halfway. I grimaced at all the dry blood on the feathers. It was a little disgusting.

My mom looked at my wing wound. She brushed over it softly, and it took all my power not to shout out in pain. "Your wing looks fine." She said surprised. "The bullet got some of your wing, but it looks like it already healed up. That was fast, even for you." I looked up surprisedly. Normally it takes about a week for us to heal. I healed in two days. That's a new record.

"The pain killers should take effect any time now. Your wing will be fine, but I want you to leave them out. As in don't tuck them into your back. They should heal faster that way. But I want you to rest for at least one more day." We walked out of the bathroom. "And I don't mean three hours. I mean a _day."_ Darn. My mom really knows me.

We walked downstairs and I saw Jeb there. I made a face. "What's he doing here?" I said. Jeb ignored it. "How's your arm and wing, Max?"

My mom answered, probably trying say something before I make a snide remark. "Her injuries are fine. She's already half healed." The flock looked her me in surprise. "Already?" Angel said.

"Yup." I said proudly. "Can't take me down." I said. Jeb interrupted. "Max, we need to think about your next move."

"Wait, hold on." I said, and held a finger up and closed my eyes. I rubbed my temples. The Voice was giving me instructions.

_Max. There is an Itex Headquarters in California. The same one that held you and your flock captive, for most of your life. That is where the fly-boy with the gun who shot you was designed at. _I grit my teeth. Damn fly-boys. _That Itex already rebuilt itself underground and plans to have a meeting on what to do next. There is a letter they are planning to send to the major Itex Corporation. Break in there and destroy it, before they bring down the world. _

_Can you give me the coordinates? _I thought.

_Yes. _The Voice replied. _But you need to wait for you injury to heal up. Take off tomorrow. But beware of that place, there is someone waiting for you, and its not going to be pleasant. _

_Fine. _ I nodded.

I looked back to Jeb. He was watching me. "There is an Itex Headquarters not far from here. It's in California, where we were designed. They are planning their next move on world domination, and they are going to send a letter to the major headquarters. It's our job to bust in there and ruin their plans, and destroy the letter." The flock looked up at me alarmed. "When are we leaving?" Gazzy asked.

I looked at him. "Tomorrow." Angel looked at me with her big eyes. "What about your injury?" My eyes softened. "I'll be fine. I'm already pretty much done healing." I jumped up and down and shook my shoulders. The pain should have came from my injuries, but since I was on pain killers, I couldn't feel it. Ah, modern technology. Good in some ways, down right annoying in other ways.

"Tomorrow then." I said, and turned to go back upstairs, my wings sagging behind me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everybody! I'm going to keep this nice and short. I want to at least reach 10 chapters. So I have the next chapter planned out. I still have to figure out how I want to end this story. T_T Oh, and I found the flock's manga pictures on the web. Yes call me a nerd; I have the manga book too. Fang and Iggy are so hot! You can check them out on my profile. ^^**

**I don't want to end this story. :cries:**

**Disclaimer: Still wishing…**

**REVIEW**

**Max's POV**

Morning had been a drag, but we finally got everybody out of bed and have them eat breakfast. By the time we were done, Dr. Martinez and Ella already seemed said and lonely. I gave them a sympathetic glance. "We'll come back." I promised them.

As we all stepped outside, we hugged everybody goodbye. Jeb kind of just stood there in the background smiling. I can't believe how this feels like such a big deal. It felt as if we would be gone forever and won't come back for a while. "We'll be back as soon as we get rid of the Itex headquarters and destroy the letter. We'll be back in no time." I said to comfort Ella and my mother. They weren't crying, but they looked real sad.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ella hugging Iggy. For a LONG time. I glanced at Fang. He shrugged. I rolled my eyes at him and he grinned. It got really quiet, so I gave a small cough. Iggy and Ella broke apart and they seemed to be blushing slightly. "C'mere, Piggy." I said, grabbing Iggy by his ears and dragged him to an open space. Then gracefully, we took off, waving to them below us. **(AN: this is NOT Miggy. Max is just "keeping an eye out". This story has FAX in it) **

When we were up in the air, Fang flew closer to me. I felt my face heat up by a tad. "Where to?" He asked. "Oh right." I said back. Then I thought, _Voice. Give me the coordinates. _

The Voice responded immediately. _Angle your direction slightly a few degrees to the left. _I did this, and the flock followed my lead.

It was about a two-hour flight. The Voice directed us on where to go. We were in there in no time. We were flying over a desert when the Voice talked to me. _Max, Itex is directly below you. Land on the ground. _

I angled downward. "Ok guys. We're going to land!" I announced. Then altogether, we landed on the hard desert floor. I looked around confused. There was nothing but dirt rocks, and the giant boulder. "Where is it? There's nothing here." Gazzy asked confusedly. Iggy joined in. "Yeah, I can't see anything!" I punched him in the shoulder.

_Ok Voice. We're here. Now what?_ I asked silently.

_The entrance is below the giant boulder. Use all of the flock's strength to push it away slightly. There will be a door, unlocked. That is the entrance. _

I walked towards the boulder. I leaned in and pressed my ear against it and knocked it with my fist twice. Didn't feel hollow. Damn.

"Guys, I'm gonna need some help shifting this boulder. Underneath it, there is a door, and it will leads us into the heart of Itex." My whole flock leaned against the boulder. Geez. The only way scientists would be able to move this thing if they had some flyboys with them! But we managed to push the boulder about five feet. We were all huffing afterwards.

I tried to even my breathing. "Ok. I'll go first. I'll signal to you guys by snapping." Then, I jumped into the hole. I landed on cool, steel floor with a dull thud. Not bad. Then I hear, "Hey Riley, great idea—" behind me. A labcoat.

I freaked and gave a small yelp. Then I socked him one right in the face. He dropped to the floor with a thump. I was hyperventilating. Why? Because I was stuck in a steel chamber. _Underground. _ Definitely not good. Then I remember to signal to the others. I snapped. One by one, they all dropped down underground.

Now that my flock was here, I took a good look around the lab. There were computers everywhere, all busily working, but there was nobody here. Except for that one scientist lying on the ground. Fang kneeled down next to him. "What did you do to this guy?" He asked me. I shrugged. "He scared me, I had to do it."

I went up to one computer. On the right side of the screen, there was a single file. I clicked on it. Tons of data showed up. There was stuff listed all about drugs, pills, medication, injections, and a whole lot of other stuff. Then, at the end, there was a letter.

"Bingo." I muttered, and I hit the print button. The printer purred to life and began spitting out all the papers. I folded the papers and put them in my inside pocket of my jacket. Now we had to wreck this place. "Come on guys, we need to wreck as much stuff as possible." I said as a punch into the computer screen, making it go black. Then I ripped some wires out and threw them on the floor.

Gazzy came up to me. "What about a bomb?" He asked. I shook my head. "Wait until after we have all the information. We still need to find out Itex's plan. Once we leave, _then_ you can blow it up." Gazzy beamed at me.

We pretty much busted everything in the room, and nothing came to attack us or stop us. "Where the hell is security?" I asked out loud. Nudge knocked on the walls. Then she put her hand to it. "These walls are soundproof. There are also a lot of wires through them, connecting all of the rooms."

"Right. Now we need to find out what Itex is going to do next. Can you hear anyone Angel?" I asked. Angel concentrated, then replied with a look of worry on her face, "No." Great.

There were two doors on each side of the room. _Hey Voice, what door do I take?_ I thought.

_That depends. What are you looking for? _It responded back.

_What do you mean, what am I looking for?! YOU tell me! _I thought back angrily. _I'm looking for the plans! Scientists! Anything!_ The fact that we haven't found any scientist or flyboys here was making me nervous.

_That would be the right door then. _The Voice retorted. I muttered angrily. What the hell? I thought the Voice was supposed to tell me where and what to do!

I kicked down the steel door. Inside, there was a whole group of scientist around a table. In front of them was a scientist lecturing them, pointing to a slideshow. A conference.

All of the scientists turned their heads to look at us. The guy who was lecturing them shouted, "That's her! Get her!" Oh shit. "Get the whole building on lockdown! This is an emergency!" Someone shouted. I whizzed around and slammed the steel door, in an attempt to slow them down.

"Go go go!" I shouted. I looked up at the hole from where we came from. It was gone. It closed up. "What the HELL?" I screamed angrily. The door behind us slammed open and a bunch of angry scientist stormed out of there in a frenzy. I pointed ahead. "That door!" I directed. Fang kicked down the door and we burst into a large, white, empty room. Fang and I closed the door behind us and we heard banging against it. The scientists were trying to get in to get _us._

I looked around the room. White. The flocked cleared the door and went to the center of the room. "Angel, can you hear anything now?" I asked urgently. She replied no again. Damn. "I can see you guys." Iggy said, somewhat happily. Happy in the middle of hell. Ironic, isn't it?

On the other side of the room, there was a glass window. Behind the glass window, there were three scientists. Two of them were sitting in their chairs anxiously but the one in the middle looked relaxed. He was holding a small metal box. Weird. His nametag said "Riley".

Suddenly, two speakers emerged from the ceiling. Riley waved to me. I clenched my teeth. He started speaking, and we heard it from the speakers. "Maximum Ride. You fell right into our trap. I knew you'd be coming eventually."

I glared at the man behind the glass angrily. "Yeah, what do you want?"

Riley grinned. "You are in a soundproof room right now. We reserve this room for special occasions. You should consider yourself lucky."

"Cut to the chase, Riley, we don't live forever." I said snidely. Riley however, remained calm. This infuriated me.

Riley held up the small metal box. "I control you now, Maximum. You are nothing but a puppet. No one is here to save you. It is time to either join us, or be destroyed." I glowered at Riley. I hated this guy already.

"Bring it on, Riley. My flock and I can take anything. Got some new and improved Erasers? Or some new flyboys? Riley, we can take _anything. _We'll NEVER join you."

Riley looked bored. He kicked his feet up and rested them against the wall. He was silent for a minute, and then turned his gaze towards us. On me, to be exact. "Yes. But can you take yourselves?" He said coolly.

I sneered at him. "Is Max II back? Or did you make a Max III? Did you make anyone _else_ from the flock?" I said. "They're no match for us anyways." I said, as I slid into my fighting stance. Riley flicked his gaze back at us lazily. Ugh. He was toying with us. Well, this can't last forever.

"Yeah, but can you handle _yourself_ against the flock?" He grinned at us. Then he flicked open the metal box and hit the red button.

**Would it be too much to ask for 10 reviews??? Faster updates.....:)**


	10. Chapter 10

***Intense swearing* OMFG GUYS 19 REVIEWS!!!!!! THANK YOU GUYS SOOOO MUCH!!!! I had no idea you guys were review so quickly!!! Thank you everyone for favoriting and subscribing. You guys rock!! But a special thanks to the people who subscribed to me as an author and the story, and favorited me as an author and my story!! You guys deserve some credit!! So, special thanks go to:**

**Echo of Insanity**

**TwilightXAngel**

**(hope I spelt everything correctly)**

**And also a special credit to **_**randomperson. **_**This person reviewed for five chapters!! Yay!! Thank you so much **_**randomperson!!! **_**Oh and sorry for the late update, I was busy. (lame excuse alert) Thank u for the reviews, subscribers!!!**

**Oh, and yes, I forgot Total. Pretty Ironic, considering that I have a whole story dedicated to him. Whatever. Sorry, go ahead and lecture me until my ears bleed.**

**Max's POV:**

Something in the back of my head clicked. I could feel my blood get scorching hot, and my heart beat so much faster. I felt as if someone punched me in the gut. Then the blackness hit me once again. The only difference is that I wasn't in pain.

**Fang's POV:**

Max was interrogating the scientist when suddenly the atmosphere changed. Reilly flipped open his small metal box and hit the red button. Something changed, and I found what it was the next second.

Max suddenly straightened up and went rigid. Then she turned around and looked at us. Her pupils grew larger, and all emotion was wiped clean from her face. And then she lunged at us.

Her first target was me, and I barely managed to dodge one of her punches to my face. I quickly pushed the punch away and threw her off her balance. Iggy shouted, "What, what's going on?"

"Max is attacking us!" Gazzy yelled back, running away from Max. She had the most stamina of all of us; we had to find a way to stop her quickly. She decided to chase Angel. Angel stood there is fear, but she was concentrating hard. "Angel! Can you read her mind?" I shouted, running. She screamed back, "No! I can't read anything!" She said is fear, as she turned to run. It was too late though; Max was about five feet away from Angel.

"No!" I yelled, and I crashed into Max. We flung into the wall. I could distinctly hear Riley chuckling in the background. I gritted my teeth angrily. I looked at Max, and she looked back up at me with unemotional eyes. I shuddered inwardly.

Max kicked me off her, and I slammed into the other wall. Iggy pulled me up. "Shit man, this is Max. What do we do?" He asked me blindly. I got up wheezing. "I don't know, but I'll figure something out." I said back. I glanced towards Max. "How much longer can we hold up before she gets one of us?" Iggy asked. Cold horror washed through me.

We were going to lose, eventually.

"I'll figure something out. Good thing she isn't loaded up with powers, like Angel. " I said.

Iggy nodded. I focused back on Max. Everybody in the flock was with Iggy and I, against the wall. Max started chasing Nudge. "Wah!" Nudge screamed, running away from Max. Max tried to claw at her. I jumped back at her, knocking her down. She tried furiously (without showing any emotion) to get me off of her. I pinned her to the ground. "Iggy! Gazzy!" I shouted. "Make a bomb so we can get out of here!" I shouted. I heard yes in the background, then Max clocked me with her fist, and hit me on the side of my head. Then she kicked my chest, and I landed back on the other side of the wall again. Ugh, Max's strength was annoying right now. Nudge and Angel helped me up. Max sprinted straight towards me. I did the same. We were running towards each other, with determination in our (ok not Max's, only mine) eyes.

We clashed, falling on the ground, trying blindly to block and throw punches and kicks. We rolled over and over again desperately trying to get the better hand, and to defeat the other. We got back up again, and ran for each other once more. But my stamina was wearing thin, so I had to do something quick. "Sorry Max." I muttered under my breath. And as she charged at me, I aimed a kicked at her stomach. She flew against the wall for the first time.

She didn't get up for a few moments.

**Max's POV:**

My mind clicked into gear again. This was a pain in my gut, and I felt like the air was knocked out of my lungs. **(AN: Has this ever happened to anyone? It's really scary. When you get the air knocked out of you, your breath literally goes away, and you can't breathe for a few moments. Most people freak out)**

My vision cleared and I saw Iggy and Gazzy in one corner pulling out their equipment to make a bomb. Angel and Nudge were nearby them looking scared and flicking their glances from me, to Fang, then to Iggy and Gazzy. Then Fang was in the middle, in a fighting stance, breathing heavily. My head was spinning, and I wanted to grab my head, but I couldn't move my arm.

"Ugh." I muttered. Fang flickered to my face. "Max?" He asked. He seemed shocked, relieved, and…something else. I don't know what, but I'll focus on that later.

My body suddenly jerked forward and I was running towards him getting ready to punch him. I could feel the bewildered expression on my face. "Wha, wha…" I said as I leaned forward to deliver the punch. Fang took my punch and redirected it the other way. I stumbled over my feet but remained standing.

"Fang?" I said uncertainly. "I can't control my body." He must have caught on. My body continued to lunge at Fang, punching, kicking, and everything. He blocked them all easily. But he looked out of breath. "What do you want to do?" He said as he blocked everything. We stuck with close range fighting, so we could talk.

"Um, I don't know yet. What did I do to you guys?" I asked. Fang answered quickly, "When Reilly hit the button you started to attack us. Everybody was running away from you at one point. Iggy and Gazzy are making a bomb to get out of her." Fang had me in a bear hug. I was struggling to get free. It's weird. Just watching yourself as you fight against your friend, knowing you can't control your body. I was wincing every time I struck at Fang.

"Great." I said as I flipped Fang over my back. He landed on the floor in front of me on his back. "What should we do?" I asked. I looked at Fang in alarm. I hope I didn't hurt him. Stupid scientists. Stupid Reilly.

"I don't know." He said wheezing. He got back up. "Wait." He continued suddenly. "If you can't control your body, does that mean where ever we go, you'll follow?" He tested it by running towards the other end, away from Angel and the others. My body followed him. "Yeah I guess." I said.

"Maybe if we break out of here we can make you follow us to Dr. Martinez's house. She'll be able to do something." He said. I shook my head. "I'll probably tear up the house or hurt Ella. What would Dr. Martinez be able to do? The only one who might be stronger than me is you or Iggy. Iggy is blind, and you need rest eventually. I don't even feel tired."

"Got it!" Iggy and Gazzy yelled from across the room. Fang ran towards me and pinned me on the ground. Then he looked at them. "Hurry up and set it off, we need to get out of here!" He shouted. "Duck and cover!" Gazzy yelled. Everybody ran to the other side of the room, and the bomb exploded. A whole part of the roof was gone. "Air!" Angel and Nudge shouted.

I continued to struggle under Fang. He sensed that he wouldn't be able to hold me down for much longer. "Fly away!" He shouted urgently. The rest of the flock flew through the air, but stood on the roof, waiting for us—or Fang.

Fang turned his gaze back to me. "I'm going to let go and fly away on three. You just follow." He said. "One. Two—"

I cut him off. "WAIT!" I shouted. "You and the flock, you especially, are going to get tired. I'm going to end of finding you. You know that special move Jeb told us not to use? The wing thing? As I take off, push my wings back to hyperextend so I won't be able to fly."

Fang interjected, "No—" I cut him off. "Fang! Just do it! There's no other way!" I shouted. Fang stared him me for a moment, something in his eyes. The he nodded solemnly. He leapt into the air, unfurling his wings. As planned, I flew up to get him. Silently, faster than I could see, he was suddenly behind me. He took my wings, and pushed them together. My wings went numb, and they furled in and I fell straight to the floor. I landed on my face. Ouch.

Reilly suddenly burst out of the room screaming like a maniac.


	11. Chapter 11

**OMG, you guys, I am so sorry I took so long to update. I can TOTALLY explain. Ok, so first, I was waiting for a few more reviews to come in. Then I was waiting for the right moment to start writing. (Something to get me inspired, you know? Just so I can write at my absolute best) then crap happened, and this story was delayed. So yeah. Please don't hate me for procrastinating. Lol**

**Disclaimer: *yawn* do u really need to be reminded?**

**Fang's POV:**

I grasped Max's wings with my hands and pushed them together as if I'm wanted to clap with them in my hands. The wings hyperextended, and I saw Max recoil, and I could almost see the pain in her face. She came crashing down on the cold floor. Ouch, I meant to catch her, but Riley suddenly came screaming out of his little room like a maniac.

The two scientists followed behind him. Then were digging in their labcoat pockets. I squinted to get a better look. Needles. Shit. With purple fluid inside. That can't be good. Riley didn't whip out a needle so I flew straight to the other scientists.

I took them out, two at once. They grunted as they hit the floor. I took both of their needles, (being cautious as to not be nipped with one) and flung them across the room. The hit the other side of the wall with a satisfying crash.

The two scientists under me began struggling. "We'll get you!" One of them shouted. "Shut up." I muttered, then punched the lights out of them both. They went out like a light.

I whipped around to look at Max. Riley was still screaming. Max was completely numb, so she couldn't move. Riley started viciously kicking and punching her.

"WHY CAN'T WE EVER GET YOU, GOD DAMMIT! YOU PIECE OF SHIT, YOU—" He began screaming.

I lunged at him.

**Max's POV:**

After Riley came screaming out of his little room with the scientists scurrying after him, and I saw Fang take out the last two. They were pulling some needles with purple fluids out of their pockets. I mentally shuddered. Good thing Fang was getting rid of them or—

I didn't even get to finish my thought when Riley flung himself at me and started screaming. He furiously began to throw punches to my face, then he'd kick my sides and step on my legs.

He landed a kick in my side, which literally took my breath away, and I started wheezing, anxiously trying to get my breath back. He managed to land a punch right in my gut, and I screamed out a cry of pain, and I could feel the blood trickle out of the corner of my mouth.

"WHY CAN'T WE EVER GET YOU, GOD DAMMIT! YOU PIECE OF SHIT, YOU—"

Suddenly, the weight on me was suddenly lighter. I saw a flash of black feathers, and I knew Fang had come. I could barely turn my head a fraction of an inch to watch as Fang took out my assassin. Everything was getting fuzzy, but I blinked furiously to try to focus again.

Riley was continuing to scream and he was flinging his arms and legs around everywhere. He managed to clip Fang in the head, but it didn't throw Fang off by much.

"Shut it, asshole." Fang muttered, and gave a chop to Riley's neck and a punch in the gut. Riley continued to flail, but Fang quickly took care of him.

Fang walked back to me. By this time I could barely see him. I blinked a lot but it didn't help much. I was tired. I coughed into my hand. Blood. Not the first time I saw that.

"Max? Hang in there, okay?" He said softly.

"I'm…" I started. "Sleepy." I finished.

"Okay, hold on a little, I'll get you out of here." He said as he picked me up tentatively.

I struggled to remain conscious.

**Fang's POV: **

I picked up Max. She looked so beat up and tired. There was blood trickling down her mouth and her eyes were halfway closed. I could tell her eyelids threatened to close any minute, but she was fighting it.

Angel's voice suddenly ringed from above. "Fang?" She asked. "Yeah, what is it?" I responded.

She pointed to the door. It was on its last hinge. Dammit, the scientists were still pounding on it. It was about to break. "I got it." Iggy's voice echoed. Oh that's right. He can see. We're in a white room.

He stood in front of the door. Iggy looked completely relaxed and said, "Jesus Christ, give it a rest will you?" The door broke, but before it fell towards him an inch he kicked the door the other way and all the scientists behind it fell over. **(AN: Cuz since the door broke, and it was going to fall over, with the scientists steaming out, Iggy kicked it the other way, which caused the door to fall on the scientists. Just to clear it up. :) )**

I grinned at Iggy. "Okay guys, let's go." We flew through the hole in the roof and headed back towards Dr. Martinez's house, with Max in my arms.

**Well, that's it! Sorry if this chapter seemed a little off. Forgive me? I can't seem to escape the Twilight series. I'm a big fan, but I guess it's showing in my writing and stories too. Geez. Oh, and it case I left it out somewhere, the red button control thing broke. It hit the wall and stuff. IDK if I put it in the story or not at all, but let's just say it's broken. :) **

**Reviews???**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm not gonna even bother trying to make this up. I don't like ending stories, I'm not good at them!! Ugh, well I'll try to update soon. So anyways the other day I was walking around my house wondering about my fanfics. I was thinking, 'How can I make it better?'. And this little situation popped up in my head. Imagine it as a comic strip:**

**A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS AND MAX**

**ELLA: Max, Max! Mr. Chu kidnapped Dr. Martinez!**

**MAX: WHAT?!?! **

**[[next panel]]**

**ELLA: Max, Max! Mr. Chu kidnapped Jeb!**

**MAX:.…**

**ELLA: Max?? Did you hear me?**

**MAX: Yeah. Wanna pretend I didn't?**

**HA! Well, I thought it was funny. My incredibly quick-reading, smart ass that sometimes slows down or gets lazy when I am not inspired mind came up with this!! HAHA!! BE JEALOUS!!!!!! **

**Well here's the main authors note:**

**I'll try to finish up this story. Whenever I get inspired. You can't force it out of me, or it'll suck. I'll do my best though. :be prepared for a world meltdown:**

**Thank You for being patient! (or those of you who aren't, but you have to suffer anyways. =P.) Lol well later then!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I guess I finally got inspired. Well, actually more like an idea for the ending. Anyways this story is a REAL mess. I spelt Reilly two different ways! **

**I haven't read the Maximum Ride series in a while, and my interest has died down a little. So their personalities may be a little off, some stuff might be wrong, or just downright weird.**

**:covers face in shame:**

**Max's POV:**

I woke up in a bed. My bed, the one I usually use when we visit mom's house. This feels good. I don't want to get up, but I know I can't fall back asleep. I need to get a jumpstart on the day anyways.

I sit up and bed, and wince. I. Feel. Like. Crap. And that is a huge understatement.

I reluctantly crawl out of the bed and try to stand up. Of course, my legs gave out, and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor. And I seriously don't feel like getting up.

I know what your thinking.

Shut up. I don't need to hear it.

I pull myself up to my feet again, and do some stretches. Some leader I am, I could almost feel myself becoming lazy. Nope, not me. I will not let that happen.

I roll my shoulders, content to find that nothing hurts. No bleeding, no hurting, just soreness. And stiffness. Whichever. My wings are fine too. Extra bonus. Well, time to face the day.

I open my door and walk out of the room. I yawn and stretch my arm above my head. Being lazy sounds really good right now. I hear soft footsteps from up the hall, and I glance over to see Fang walking towards me from his room.

"Hey Fang." I say smiling. Seeing his face makes me all jittery inside. "Feeling better, I see." He says.

I smile. "Yup. That's me. Get hurt then recover fast." Fang chuckles and walks over to me.

Then, out of nowhere, my hand reaches up and slaps him across the face. I stare at him in shock. What the hell was that?! I just had the sudden urge to hit him, and then my arm moved on its own!

Fang stares back at me in shock. He holds his cheek, where it is slightly red from my hand. He hardly even moved. It was like hitting a rock. "What the hell was that for?!" He half yells. Oh great. I could see the irritation pouring out of his face now.

"I don't know." I say stupidly. Fang looks like he wants to shove me back, and he opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"Whoa, whoa! Sorry. I don't know what came over me, I just saw your face, and my hand moved on its own, I swear!" I exclaim. I held my hands up in the air like a surrender of defeat. I felt my finger twitch, and I had another urge to slap Fang again.

The irritation drained out of Fang's face, and he said, "Oh yeah. Evil whitecoats. Reilly. How could I forget." He says sarcastically. I smile and roll my eyes at him, the urge to slap him slowly draining away.

We walked down stairs, and I stiffened to see Jeb sitting next to mom at the dining table. Fang senses this, and his shoulder brushes mine. For some reason, I find this very comforting, and I calmed down at once.

The rest of the flock was up. Iggy and Ella were in the kitchen, scrambling eggs. Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy were sitting at the couch with their eyes glued to the TV. When they noticed me, they grinned and waved excitedly.

"Max! Are you feeling okay?" Nudge asked. I nodded. "Yup! I think the effects are wearing off." I said sheepishly.

Jeb set down his coffee cup. "That's what we need to talk about, Maximum."

I twitch. That name just set something in my mind off right away. Too bad the effects in my blood were wearing off. I'd really like an excuse to hit him.

"There's nothing to talk about. The effects are wearing off, so I should be fine." I said briskly.

"Well, we can't be sure. Just to be on the safe side, we'll need to cleanse out your blood."

Fang spoke up. "How are you going to do that? Drain out all her blood, cleanse it, then put it back?" There was some weird note in his voice that I couldn't identify. Challenge? Suspicion?

"Well," Jeb said, and I swear I could see a vein popping in his head. "We'll drain a few pints of her blood, then you and Iggy could donate some."

"What are you going to do with Max's blood? Dump it out somewhere? Donate it to charity?"

"Testing of course."

Fang quieted down at this. I guess he was somewhat satisfied with the answers.

"Well, if you guys aren't busy, then I'd suggest we begin." Jeb said. And if I didn't know any better, I thought I saw a glint in his eyes.

_A few moments later…_

Iggy, Fang, and I were strapped down to chairs in the basement. When or where Jeb got all this equipment, I have no idea.

"Hey, what the hell am I doing here?!" Iggy half yelled.

"Weren't you listening at all?" Fang said, slightly irritable. "We're donating blood to Max, so she doesn't go crazy on us."

"Crazy? Oh so now all of a sudden I'm crazy because I got shot with a poisoned bullet? Well sorry for fighting for you guys!" I said, joining in on the argument.

Ella watched us amusedly. "Calm down you guys." She thought for a minute, before correcting herself embarrassedly. "Oh yeah, sorry. You guys must be nervous, because this looks like a testing room, huh?"

I looked around the room. Oh. So that must be the reason why we're so on edge. "Sorry Ella. I guess you're right about the whole nervous thing."

Iggy smirked. "Max is the sorriest because she's the most afraid!" He snickered to himself.

I bristled. "You wanna say that to my face, punk?" I yell back.

"Maybe if I could find your face, then I'd gladly—"

"WHERE THE HELL IS JEB?!" Fang yelled over Iggy.

And with that, Jeb and mom walked into the room. "Sorry to keep you waiting, there was a little, er, problem. But now it's taken care of." Jeb said, almost cheerfully.

"Now, this won't hurt a bit." Mom said comfortingly as she approached me. And you know what? I was comforted by her words. At least until she took out a needle that looked like a freaking gun.

I swear, my eyes must have popped out of my head. Fang looked at the needle gun in horror, and Iggy sensed the sudden silence that filled the room.

Oh, the horror.

_Sometime later…_

**Angel's POV:**

I skipped outside to the backyard. Max, Fang, and Iggy have been sitting out there ever since the whole blood thing happened, about two hours ago. There were laying on the grass, under a tree.

I peered over them. "Hi guys!" I said cheerfully. There looked dazed, and they were unresponsive. "Hello?" I said again. I nudged Fang with my foot.

Ella, Gazzy, and Nudge strode up beside me. "They're a little loopy after the blood loss. They'll come around in a few hours." Ella said.

We watched them in silence. A leaf fell on Max, and she picked it up. She nudged Fang and few times. He looked at her sleepily. "Mmm?" She held the leaf up to Fang. "Look." Max held the leaf like it was the world's greatest treasure.

"It's a leaf." Gazzy said. Ella shushed him. "People who give blood can sometimes be a bit incoherent."

"This is boring. Wanna make it more fun?" Gazzy smiled at us. I read his mind and giggled. "What?" Nudge asked.

Gazzy didn't say anything but he pulled out a black market and began to color on their faces. We all laughed.

"They're gonna kill us when they wake up."

**Oh. My. God. This was hoooorrible. Everything I wrote felt FORCED. I'm sorry if this chapter sucked, but I'm not very good with endings. I was rereading this story today, and there is a TON of stupid errors! Please forgive the errors, and the sucky ending to this. I tried to make it a little funny, but…ugh. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and read this story! I guess my writing is better when I have full interest in the subject. My love for MR has just…died down a little. Once again, thank you to everyone who has read, subscribed, and reviewed this story, you're awesome! **

**Oh, and people! There is a Maximum Ride comic book. I strongly encourage you to read it! Yes, Fang has samurai hair, but he is still sexy! Don't worry, it gets chopped off later into a more emo styled haircut. **

**Review? **


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